Elliott Bay

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Elliott Bay
Aerial view of Elliot Bay, Seattle.jpg
Aerial view of Elliott Bay
USA Washington relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Elliott Bay
Coordinates 47°36′11″N122°22′23″W / 47.603°N 122.373°W / 47.603; -122.373
River sources Duwamish River
Ocean/sea sources Puget Sound
Basin  countriesUnited States
Surface area21 km2 (8.1 sq mi)
Settlements Seattle
References [1]

Elliott Bay is a part of the Central Basin region of Puget Sound. It is in the U.S. state of Washington, extending southeastward between West Point in the north and Alki Point in the south. Seattle was founded on this body of water in the 1850s and has since grown to encompass it completely. The waterway it provides to the Pacific Ocean has served as a key element of the city's economy, enabling the Port of Seattle to become one of the busiest ports in the United States.

Contents

History

The Duwamish people have lived in the vicinity of Elliott Bay and the Duwamish River for thousands of years and had established at least 17 settlements by the time white settlers came in the 1850s. [2] Among the earliest white settlements was by the Denny Party at New York Alki, which is in the present-day neighborhood of Alki in West Seattle, however after a hard winter they shifted across Elliott Bay near the present-day Pioneer Square, which became Seattle. Over the years the city expanded to cover all of the waterfront on Elliott Bay and codified it as one of its fairways (a navigable waterway). [3]

The bay was named during the Wilkes expedition in 1841, [4] after an uncertain namesake. Candidates include members of the expedition: ship's chaplain Jared Elliott, ship's boy George Elliott, and midshipman Samuel Elliott. The last has been deemed the most likely namesake. [5] Commodore Jesse Elliott has also been proposed as a possible source of the name. [6] The bay has been referred to as Duwamish Bay and Seattle Harbor, [7] especially before the US Board on Geographic Names officially settled on the name "Elliott Bay" in 1895. [4]

Duwamish Head, West Seattle Duwamish Head West Seattle.JPG
Duwamish Head, West Seattle

A local legend says that the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet, which peaked in the early 20th century, was so-named by a Seattleite who looked out over Elliott Bay and remarked that the activity resembled that of mosquitoes. [8] Two notable sinkings related to the Mosquito Fleet occurred in the bay: the Dix in 1906, taking with it dozens of lives, and the Multnomah in 1911. Eventually these commercial passenger services faded as automobiles and ferries rose in popularity.

The last remaining model of the Boeing 307 Stratoliner ditched into Elliott Bay in 2002 during a final test flight from Boeing Field to Everett. The craft, named the Flying Cloud, had been the subject of an eight-year restoration project meant to ready it for display at the National Air and Space Museum. [9] Despite the incident, the aircraft was again restored, flew to the Smithsonian, and was put on display. [10]

Seattle's Crystal Pool Natatorium used water pumped in from the Bay.

Features

Elliott Bay and the Seattle waterfront, looking north from the Pacific Coast Co. dock, c. 1907 Elliott bay.jpg
Elliott Bay and the Seattle waterfront, looking north from the Pacific Coast Co. dock, c. 1907

West Point and Alki Point are the headlands into Puget Sound recognized as the northern and southern entrances of Elliott Bay respectively. A line drawn between these two points demarcates the bay to the east from the open sound to the west. [3] [11] More precisely, the bay has been defined as being east from a line drawn from Duwamish Head north to Magnolia Bluff. [12] The Duwamish River empties into the southeastern part of the bay. This area was extensively modified by human development in the 20th century to channelize the river and fill in tideflats to create Harbor Island, which was once the world's largest artificial island. [13] West of the river delta the land juts north into the bay at Duwamish Head. To the east running north and northwest is the heart of Seattle, the Alaskan Way Seawall, the Central Waterfront, and Smith Cove.

Elliott Bay is home to the Port of Seattle, which, in 2002, was the 9th busiest port in the United States by TEUs of container traffic and the 46th busiest in the world. [14] [15] Cruise ship business, serving Alaskan cruises, became increasingly important in the 2000s. [16] The bay is also home to Colman Dock, the main Seattle terminal of the state's ferry system, the largest in the country. Sailings regularly depart from Seattle to Bainbridge Island and Bremerton. The Seattle–Winslow (Bainbridge Island) route is the most heavily used in the state ferry system in terms of number of vehicles and passengers transported. [17] The King County Water Taxi, a passenger ferry, runs across the bay, connecting Downtown Seattle with West Seattle (Seacrest Dock) and Vashon Island. [18]

Elliott Bay Park along the waterfront, downtown Seattle Elliott Bay Park Seattle waterfront Seattle Washington.JPG
Elliott Bay Park along the waterfront, downtown Seattle

Two marinas are in Elliott Bay. The larger of them is the privately owned Elliott Bay Marina, in the Magnolia/Interbay neighborhoods at Smith Cove, with 1,200 slips. [19] [20] Bell Harbor Marina, operated by the Port of Seattle, is in the Central Waterfront along Belltown. Up to 70 vessels can be moored there. [21]

Numerous piers extend into the bay, especially along Seattle's Central Waterfront. Piers 57 and 59 house tourist destinations, including the Seattle Great Wheel and the Seattle Aquarium. On Pier 67 is The Edgewater Hotel. Pier 86 is a major grain shipping terminal operated by the Louis Dreyfus Group. [22] Grain is carried to docked cargo ships by passing over Elliott Bay Trail and a narrow shoreline park, which also features a public fishing pier [23] near Smith Cove. In the cove is Terminal 91, which has served a variety of purposes over the years, including storage for imported automobiles and fish, and most recently became a dock for Alaskan cruise ships. [24] To the south, in West Seattle's Seacrest Park, is another public fishing pier [25] and a dive site.

As a prominent aspect of Seattle's geography, the bay has frequently been referenced in media. The Real World: Seattle , the 1998 season of the MTV reality television series, was filmed on Pier 70 on the bay. [26] The fictional Elliott Bay Towers, home of Frasier Crane on the TV series Frasier , are named after the bay. In "Grey's Anatomy", there is an episode arc in an early season in the series where intern Dr. Meredith Grey, played by Ellen Pompeo, almost dies following a near-drowning when she falls into the bay after being kicked by a patient she is tending to at the scene of a passenger ferry and freight container ship collision; she is rescued just in time by Dr. Derek Shepherd, her friend and the hospital's neurosurgery chief. In Season 3 of the Seattle-set crime drama The Killing , suspect Ray Seward is incarcerated in the fictional Elliott Bay Penitentiary. [27] A simplified map of Elliott Bay is used as the "Maps" icon in Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Smartphone Operating System. Microsoft has its headquarters in the Seattle metropolitan area.

Ecology

Elliott Bay has been a focus for environmental concern. Urban and industrial development along its shores, and on the banks of the Duwamish River that leads into it, have caused concern over the levels of contaminants entering the water. [1] On the southern shoreline are two Superfund cleanup sites: Harbor Island [28] and the former location of Lockheed West Seattle. [29] Several other sites have been designated for cleanup, including the Pacific Sound Resources site, [30] and others along the lower Duwamish.

The downtown waterfront offers a poor habitat for the juvenile salmon that migrate from the Duwamish River, due to the darkness under the piers and the lack of food along the vertical Alaskan Way Seawall. The seawall redevelopment project aims to improve the habitat by installing underwater structures to create shallows where salmon can find food and glass blocks in the sidewalk (cantilevered over the bay) so that sunlight can illuminate the shallows even at the piers. Another issue that is currently prevalent in Elliott Bay is noise pollution. The level of noise that is currently present in Elliott Bay is legally considered to be harassment of marine mammals (Van, 2016; Welch, 2013; Wilson, 2015). It is also important to note that marine vehicles enter and exit the port twenty-four hours a day. This noise is continuous, and this can cause distress to marine mammals (Van, 2016; Welch, 2013; Wilson, 2015). [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duwamish River</span> River in Washington, United States

The Duwamish River is the name of the lower 12 miles (19 km) of Washington state's Green River. Its industrialized estuary is known as the Duwamish Waterway. In 2009, the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center was opened on the west bank of the river as part of the tribe's reassertion of its historic rights in the area and its continuing struggle for federal recognition of tribal status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alki Point, Seattle</span> Seattle Neighborhood in Washington, United States

Alki Point is a point jutting into Puget Sound, the westernmost landform in the West Seattle district of Seattle, Washington. Alki is the peninsular neighborhood on Alki Point. Alki was the original settlement in what was to become the city of Seattle. It was part of the city of West Seattle from 1902 until that city's annexation by Seattle in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harbor Island, Seattle</span> Artificial island in Washington, US

Harbor Island is an artificial island in the mouth of the Duwamish River in Seattle, Washington, US, where it empties into Elliott Bay. Built by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, it was completed in 1909 and was then the largest artificial island in the world, at 350 acres (1.4 km2). Since 1912, the island has been used for commercial and industrial activities including secondary lead smelting, shipbuilding and repair, bulk petroleum storage, metal fabrication and containerized cargo shipping. Warehouses, laboratories and other buildings are located on the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Seattle</span> Neighborhood between the Duwamish River and Puget Sound

West Seattle is a conglomeration of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest, and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an independent town in 1902 before being annexed by Seattle five years later. Among the area's attractions are its saltwater beach parks along Elliott Bay and Puget Sound, including Alki Beach Park and Lincoln Park. The area is also known for its views of the Olympic Mountains to the west and the Cascade Range to the east. One-third of Seattle's green space and urban forest is located in West Seattle, much of it in the West Duwamish Greenbelt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Seattle</span> Port authority in Washington, United States

The Port of Seattle is a government agency overseeing the seaport of Seattle, Washington, United States as well as Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to one of the largest airports and container terminals on the West Coast, the Port of Seattle is one of the Pacific Northwest's leading economic engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodies of water of Seattle</span>

The city of Seattle, Washington, is located on a narrow isthmus between Puget Sound on the west and Lake Washington on the east; water comprises approximately 41% of the total area of the city. It was founded on the harbor of Elliott Bay, home to the Port of Seattle—in 2002, the 9th busiest port in the United States by TEUs of container traffic and the 46th busiest in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of San Francisco</span> Organization that oversees port facilities in San Francisco, California, United States

The Port of San Francisco is a semi-independent organization that oversees the port facilities at San Francisco, California, United States. It is run by a five-member commission, appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Board of Supervisors. The Port is responsible for managing the larger waterfront area that extends from the anchorage of the Golden Gate Bridge, along the Marina district, all the way around the north and east shores of the city of San Francisco including Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero, and southward to the city line just beyond Candlestick Point. In 1968, the State of California, via the California State Lands Commission for the State-operated San Francisco Port Authority, transferred its responsibilities for the Harbor of San Francisco waterfront to the City and County of San Francisco / San Francisco Harbor Commission through the Burton Act AB2649. All eligible State port authority employees had the option to become employees of the City and County of San Francisco to maintain consistent operation of the Port of San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King County Water Taxi</span> Passenger ferry service in King County, Washington

The King County Water Taxi is a passenger-only fast ferry service operated by the King County Metro Transit Department, Marine Division. It operates two routes between Downtown Seattle and West Seattle or Vashon Island.

The region now known as Seattle has been inhabited since the end of the last glacial period. Archaeological excavations at West Point in Discovery Park, Magnolia confirm that the Seattle area has been inhabited by humans for at least 4,000 years and probably much longer. West Point was called Oka-dz-elt-cu, Per-co-dus-chule, or Pka-dzEltcu. The village of tohl-AHL-too had been inhabited at least since the 6th century CE, as had hah-AH-poos—"where there are horse clams"—at the then-mouth of the Duwamish River in what is now the Industrial District. The Lushootseed (Skagit-Nisqually)-speaking Salish Dkhw'Duw'Absh and Xacuabš —ancestors of today's Duwamish Tribe—occupied at least 17 villages in the mid-1850s and lived in some 93 permanent longhouses (khwaac'ál'al) along the lower Duwamish River, Elliott Bay, Salmon Bay, Portage Bay, Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, and the Duwamish River tributaries, the Black and Cedar Rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company</span> Defunct shipyard in Seattle, Washington

Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, was a shipyard in Seattle, Washington with Yard 1 on Harbor Island and Yard 2 at what is now Jack Block Park at Seattle Terminal 5, both at the mouth of the West Waterway of Duwamish River. Yard 1 was founded in 1898 as the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, the company that built Harbor Island, and it was purchased by Lockheed in 1959. Yard 2 began operation in 1943 to build ships for the US Navy. The shipyard was permanently closed in 1988; Yard 2 was sold in 1989, and Yard 1 was sold in 1997, both to Port of Seattle.

<i>Dix</i> (steamboat) American steamboat built in 1904

The steamboat Dix operated from 1904 to 1906 as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. She was sunk in a collision which remains one of the most serious transportation accidents in the state of Washington to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington State Route 339</span> Highway in Washington

State Route 339 (SR 339) is a 8.5-nautical-mile-long state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It is designated on a former state-run ferry route that connected Vashon Island's Vashon Heights ferry terminal to downtown Seattle's Pier 50, via a passenger-only ferry, the MV Skagit. The ferry was financed by the King County Ferry District (KCFD) and tolls collected at Pier 50. Despite being part of the KCFD, the ferry was operated by Washington State Ferries (WSF). SR 339 was one of only four ferry routes providing access to and from Vashon Island, and had the lowest annual average ridership of the four routes. The state of Washington took over the operation of the ferry route in 1951, and designated it SR 339 in 1994. The ferry was discontinued in 2006 and was replaced by a King County Water Taxi route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alaskan Way</span> Street in Seattle, Washington

Alaskan Way, originally Railroad Avenue, is a street in Seattle, Washington, that runs along the Elliott Bay waterfront from just north of S. Holgate Street in the Industrial District—south of which it becomes East Marginal Way S.— to Broad Street in Belltown, north of which is Myrtle Edwards Park and the Olympic Sculpture Park. The right-of-way continues northwest through the park, just west of the BNSF Railway mainline, and the roadway picks up again for a few blocks at Smith Cove. It follows a route known in the late 19th century as the "Ram's Horn" because of its shape. The street gave its name to the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which until 2019 carried Washington State Route 99 through Downtown Seattle. The northern section of Alaskan Way is also signed as its honorary name, Dzidzilalich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Waterfront, Seattle</span> Neighborhood in Seattle

The Central Waterfront of Seattle, Washington, United States, is the most urbanized portion of the Elliott Bay shore. It runs from the Pioneer Square shore roughly northwest past Downtown Seattle and Belltown, ending at the Broad Street site of the Olympic Sculpture Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colman Dock</span> Ferry terminal in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Colman Dock, also called Pier 52, is the primary ferry terminal in Seattle, Washington, United States. The original pier is no longer in existence, but the terminal, now used by the Washington State Ferries system, is still called "Colman Dock". The terminal serves two routes to Bainbridge Island and Bremerton and has an adjacent passenger-only facility at Pier 50 for King County Water Taxi and Kitsap Fast Ferries routes.

<i>West Seattle</i> (steam ferry) Ship built in 1807

West Seattle was a side-wheel driven steam-powered ferry built in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Trunk Pacific dock</span> Wharf in Seattle (1910–1964)

The Grand Trunk Pacific dock was a shipping pier in Seattle, Washington. The original pier was built in 1910 and was destroyed in a fire in 1914. The pier was then rebuilt and continued in existence until 1964, when it was dismantled. The area where the pier stood is now part of the Seattle terminal of the Washington State Ferry system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pier 57 (Seattle)</span>

Pier 57 is located in Seattle, Washington near the foot of University Street. Currently under private ownership, the pier is now a tourist attraction with gift shops and restaurants, and houses the Seattle Great Wheel.

References

  1. 1 2 "Elliott Bay/Duwamish River, WA". Damage Assessment, Remediation, & Restoration Program. NOAA Office of Response and Restoration. November 2, 2010. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  2. ↑ Lange, Greg (October 15, 2000). "Seattle and King County's First White Settlers". HistoryLink. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "SMC 16.04.070 Fairway". Seattle Municipal Code. Seattle Office of the City Clerk. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  4. 1 2 "Elliott Bay". USGS Geographic Names Information Service. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  5. ↑ Rochester, Junius (2003-02-17). "Wilkes, Charles (1798-1877)". HistoryLink. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  6. ↑ Wilhelm, Honor L. (1902). The Coast. Vol. 5–6. Coast Publishing Co. p. 91.
  7. ↑ Meany, Edmond S. (July 1918). "Origin of Washington Geographic Names". The Washington Historical Quarterly. 9 (2): 123.
  8. ↑ Cammon Findlay, Jean; Paterson, Robin (2008). Mosquito Fleet of South Puget Sound. Arcadia. p. 7. ISBN   978-0-7385-5607-9.
  9. ↑ Long, Priscilla (March 29, 2002). "Historic Boeing 307 Stratoliner ditches into Elliott Bay on March 28, 2002". HistoryLink.
  10. ↑ Whitford, Ellen (September 2003). "Once more with feeling". Boeing Frontiers Online. Boeing. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
  11. ↑ Davidson, George (1869). Coast Pilot of California, Oregon, and Washington Territory. Washington: Government Printing Office. p. 236. . . . a very long, low sand point, called West Point, which forms the extreme northwest part of the entrance to Duwamish Bay [Elliott Bay]. The bay runs east by south six and half miles and has a width of two miles. To the south point, called Battery Point [Alki Point] . . .
  12. ↑ "Chapter 13: Puget Sound, Washington". U.S. Coast Pilot 7 (PDF) (45th (2013) ed.). National Ocean Service. December 2, 2012. p. 527. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-03.
  13. ↑ "U.S. Waterborne Foreign Trade, Containerized Cargo, Top 30 U.S. Ports, Calendar Year 2002". U.S. Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on 2007-08-07.
  14. ↑ "Port Industry Statistics". AAPA. Archived from the original on 2006-10-04.
  15. ↑ "Cruise Statistics". Port of Seattle. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Traffic Statistics Rider Segment Report (2011)" (PDF). Washington State Ferries. May 3, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  17. ↑ "King County Water Taxi". King County Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  18. ↑ Healy, Tim (January 27, 1992). "If You've Got A Boat, Marina Has A Slip". The Seattle Times.
  19. ↑ "Elliott Bay Marina Inc" (PDF). US EPA. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Bell Harbor Marina". Port of Seattle. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  21. ↑ "Terminal 86 Grain Facility". Port of Seattle Centennial. Port of Seattle. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  22. ↑ "Elliott Bay Fishing Pier at Terminal 86". Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Terminal 91". Port of Seattle Centennial. Port of Seattle. Archived from the original on February 20, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Seacrest Park Pier". Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  25. ↑ Mcfarland, Melanie (June 12, 1998). "MTV's Series Appears 'Real' In Name Only". The Seattle Times.
  26. ↑ "Highlights From The Killing Story Sync for Season 3 Episode 10, 'Six Minutes'". The Killing Story Sync. AMC TV. Archived from the original on August 4, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Superfund Site: Harbor Island (Lead)". US EPA. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Superfund Site: Lockheed West Seattle". National Priorities List. US EPA. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  29. ↑ "Superfund Site: Pacific Sound Resources". US EPA. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  30. ↑ Munsch, Stuart (October 14, 2014). "Brighter future for salmon at downtown seawall". In Simenstad, Charles; Rice, Jeff (eds.). Encyclopedia of Puget Sound. Puget Sound Institute.
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